A Contrastive Study of Textual Cohesion and Coherence Errors in Chinese EFL Abstract Writing in Engineering Discourse

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "A Contrastive Study of Textual Cohesion and Coherence Errors in Chinese EFL Abstract Writing in Engineering Discourse"

Transcription

1 A Contrastive Study of Textual Cohesion and Coherence Errors in Chinese EFL Abstract Writing in Engineering Discourse Lida Liu & Xiukun Qi Harbin Institute of Technology This pilot empirical study examined the deficiency of textual cohesion and coherence reflected in genre-based English abstract production of the engineering discourse by most Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) advanced learners, using cohesive theory, text linguistics, and intercultural theory as the theoretical framework. The problems were addressed typically from the perspective of intercultural communication, aiming to help Chinese EFL advanced writers achieve effective communication in the interaction with International English readers (IE). This study compared the data obtained from 30 abstracts written by Chinese advanced EFL writers and another 30 abstracts written by English as Mother Language (EML) writers in terms of structural cohesion and non-structural cohesion. The contractive results showed that Chinese and English are surprisingly different in strategies of cohesion and coherence, and that the major cohesive and coherence errors made repetitively by most Chinese EFL respondents are more associated with their cultural transfer in a way of fossilization. We hope to provide meaningful insight into these problems by tracing the influence on linguistic, pragmatic, cognitive, and cultural aspects. Although the shared norms of cohesion and coherence of a research report is required by the International English (IE) academic speech community, writers from Chinese language and culture comprehend the two textual features differently, especially coherence. Many cohesive and coherence problems occur in Chinese EFL writing, especially in EFL abstract writing, and this occurrence results from fossilization due to the strong influence of the native language and greatly hinders effective communication. This textual cohesive deficiency and incoherence in the abstracts by Chinese advanced EFL learners are actually systematic errors due to the cultural interferences in the production of English abstracts and the different audience s expectations regarding the textual quality required. The fossilization that occurs is mainly due to the ignorance of cultural influence which can even block effective communication in the information flow; therefore, there is a great need to draw attention to the issue and address the problems. Many researchers have examined cohesion and coherence for a general purpose, assuming that the text creates cohesive strategies management as one of the crucial points of discourse in terms of information flow and theme (Zhu & Yan, 2001). Hoey (2000) states that these two textual features interact in a subtle and complex way and that he built lexical patterns to achieve cohesion and coherence for a general discourse. Selinker (1994) emphasizes how the second language learner passes through a stage of inter-language in which systematic errors of various kinds occur in second language learning and learner s production; many of his followers support the claim that the errors made by inter-language 176

2 writers are systematic. Their contributions make it possible for our attempt to relate the EFL abstract cohesion and coherence deficiency to the systematic problems which have not been addressed by applied research as a big issue from the perspective of intercultural communication, even though they are key text qualities raised by De Beaugrande and Dressler (1996). The purpose of the present paper is to study the deficiency of cohesion (grammatical and/or lexical relationship between different elements of a text) and coherence (relationship linking the meanings of utterances in a discourse; these links can be based on the shared knowledge of the speakers) reflected in Chinese EFL abstract production from the perspective of text analysis and intercultural communications. The major reasons for the fossilization of incohesion and incoherence are explored for a better understanding of EFL abstract writing problems and for the better control of EFL abstract writing. Cultural influence and fossilization (incorrect linguistic features becoming a permanent part of the way a person speaks and writes) of the first language (L1) over the second language (L2) are believed to be the biggest hindrance to effective communication in the intercultural context. Our concerns in this research have been to seek out ways useful for the genre-based analysis of incohesion and incoherence found in Chinese EFL abstracts. As IE (International English) is the main concern, social identity and national identity are not involved in the analysis. Methodology This empirical study examines the textual quality of the cohesion and coherence shown in Chinese EFL doctoral abstract discourse. The measurements used here are (a) five cohesive ties formulated (Halliday & Hassan, 2001), (b) lexical cohesive framework proposed (Hoey, 2000), and (c) thematic progression developed (Zhu & Yan, 2001). The similarities and differences of cohesive and coherence strategies used by EML writers and by Chinese EFL advanced writers are made. This task attempts to explore the underlying linguistic, pragmatic, cognitive, and cultural factors affecting abstract textual issue of cohesion and coherence with comparison and contrast of the Chinese and English languages. Subjects The respondents are two groups of abstract writers. The first group comprises 30 non-english major EFL doctoral writers from Harbin Institute of Technology in different fields of science and with high English proficiency. Another 30 Chinese EFL correspondents used as a reference for determining the problems related are from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (one of the nine key universities). These Chinese respondents were chosen because they are highly representative of the proficiency level of English writing skills of young Chinese EFL researchers. The third group consists of 30 EML researchers whose nationalities were deliberately chosen to be English or American to represent the professional skills. Their abstracts collected from a famous international database are used as parameters. 177

3 Instruments The tools used in this analysis of different cohesive strategies preferred by EML writers and Chinese EFL advanced learners are non-structural cohesion and structural cohesion proposed by Halliday and Husan (2001) and Zhu, Zheng, and Miao (2001). The first tool used for measurements of non-structural cohesion includes grammatical cohesion of reference, ellipsis, substitution, and conjunction proposed by Halliday and Husan (2001) and lexical cohesion of reiteration by Hoey (2000) in terms of simple repetition and complex repetition. For non-structural cohesion, ellipsis and substitution are not included, for their use is not suggested in genre-based abstracts. Another tool used for structural cohesion is concerned mainly with thematic progression proposed by Zhu and Yan (2001). These four progression patterns are used for the measurement of the progression of theme (informed) and rheme (uninformed), helping judge the development of the subject. According to Zhu and Yan s theory, the text coherence can be achieved and affected by some of these four patterns. The text with more subjects or more shifts of the subjects will weaken the textual coherence, but will strengthen its coherence with fewer shifts of subjects. Results The present work examined the genre-based abstract problems with improper cohesion and coherence with non-structural cohesion and structural cohesion used as measurements. The deficiency of cohesion and coherence was found in most of the Chinese EFL abstracts in lexical, grammatical, and textual levels. The errors of incoherence are the major reason for the block of information flow and ineffective communication to the target readers. The findings are shown in the following data analysis of abstracts by the Chinese group and EML respondents, and the task attempts to illustrate the implications for EFL teaching, learning, and translation by tracing the causes of the ineffectiveness. Data Analysis Table 1 shows overall data for non-structural cohesion found in abstracts either by EML writers or Chinese EFL writers. As can be seen, most EML writers tend to prefer covert cohesion by using fewer conjunctions than Chinese EFLs do in abstract writing to build links between form and meaning. Most Chinese respondents, however, tend to turn to overt cohesive devices, especially the conjunctions of sequential and reasoning such as firstly, then, finally, what s more, furthermore, and so on, for sentence cohesion and to build coherence of the ideas. Table 2 shows the overall situation of lexical cohesion by EFL and EML groups in terms of repetition strategy. What we found was that EML writers tended to continue the idea by using a simple repetition, a complex repetition, or paraphrases. However, the data suggest that Chinese EFL writers tended to prefer the simple repetition in a way of repeating the exact form in their genre-based abstract discourse. That is, the subject or the objects used in the previous sentence are continued in the full repetition of the same form. Preferences for full 178

4 Table 1 Overall Table for Non-Structural Cohesion Shown in Abstracts of Two Groups Non-structural No Reference Conjunctions lexical cohesion EML 30 25% 14.6% 71% EFL % 70% 69% Table 2 Overall Table for Lexical Cohesion Repetition Shown in the Abstracts of Two Groups Lexical cohesion No Partial repetition Full repetition Simple paraphrase Complex paraphrase EML 30 43% 53% 13% 11% EFL 30 26% 76.60% 3% 0% Table 3 Overall Table for Structural Cohesion of Thematic Progression Shown in Abstracts Progression patterns No Parallel pattern Continual pattern Concentration pattern EML % EFL 30 25% Crossing pattern repetition are found not just in the abstracts but also in EFL essay writing and translations. This is somewhat different from the EML writers, who tend to use different ways to continue the subject rather than the mere simple repetition. For example, the polymers can be replaced by the new polymers, or later the resulting polymers; the word discover can be replaced by the discovery, or later the finding, and so on; thus the simple repetition is not encouraged in EML writing, and this could be found in other discourses as well. Table 3 reveals structural cohesion in terms of thematic progression shown in abstracts by two different groups. As can be detected, most Chinese EFL subjects show a strong preference for the concentration progression pattern for structural cohesion, but EML respondents turn to different ways of continual pattern to achieve the structural cohesion. The high frequency of using concentration progression patterns by most of the Chinese EFL respondents signals their preference for the indirect statement starting with topic rather than the subject; however, the continual progression pattern chosen by most of EML writers reveals explicitly their preference for the directness starting with the subject. The figure of indirect statements in a way of concentration pattern suggest that Chinese EFL abstract are less logical, less coherent, and result in poor flow of the information. Table 4 summarizes the obvious phenomenon of Chinese EFL and EML respondents. We can find from the table that up to 70% of background information produced by Chinese respondents tended to use indirect openings with numerous irrelevant and empty statements of important roles, research interest, and general ideas of science development, and so on, for coherence. Whereas the EML writers showed no traces of indirectness with empty 179

5 Table 4 Data for Indirect Statement Shown in the Background Section of Two Groups Indirect strategies No. It is well known that With the development of science technology plays an important role / is an important model has been a hot or interesting topic EML 30 6% 0% 0% 0% EFL 30 35% 9% 12% 6% Table 5 Data for Indirect Statements Used as Coherence Strategies in Abstracts of Two Groups Indirect strategies No. In order to meet with, SVO Based on some,svo According to the theory of, SVO EML 30 6% 0% 3% 6% EFL 30 57% 21% 16% 15% In this paper, the a novel model is presented Table 6 Frequencies of Indirectness for Coherence Shown in the Abstracts by Two Groups Coherence Background Purpose Method Result Conclusion strategies EML 0% 3% 20% 3.3% 0% EFL 35% 57% 30.3% 27.6% 20.3% background statements for coherence, even though four writers began the abstract with an indirect opening containing background information, their background is of very specific identification of the present research rather than the very general idea of the research area. Table 5 presents the specific data for most commonly used indirect statements functioning as an illustration of coherence strategies by Chinese EFL and EML writers. The indirect statements with adverbials for each of the abstract sections written by Chinese EFL writers are found to be filled with phrases like in order to, according to, based on, due to, and in this paper, as well as clauses like adverbial clauses of time, reason, and condition. The majority of adverbial statements used in and extracted from Chinese EFL abstracts are often placed at the beginning of the abstract sections; however, EML writers tended to place these adverbials at the end except for an emphasis on the experimental conditions of the specific method or of the specific results designed for the experiment. Table 6 reveals the frequencies of indirectness shown for coherence in the abstracts of two groups. As can be observed, a majority of the EML writers tended to place the adverbial clauses of time, reason, criteria, sequences, condition, concession, and so on, at the end of the sentences rather than at the beginning, while the case is quite different from Chinese EFL respondents who tended to do the opposite. The frequencies of using the indirect statements, is much higher in the Chinese group then the EML group, especially in the background (35% 180

6 EFL, 6% EML) and purpose sections (57% EFL, 3% EML). There are also some differences in other sections where the choice of directness by EML writers and indirectness by Chinese EFL advanced learners is explicitly shown. From the six tables, we can verify the major cohesive and coherence problems found in the Chinese EFL abstracts. They are as follows: (1) the overuse of cohesive devices, (2) overt links, (3) improper repetition of the sentence subject or the object, (4) concentration progression patterns and indirect statements, and (5) indirect and empty background information. These occurrences are greatly associated with the linguistic interferences due to the cultural differences and overgeneralization of cohesive rules of the target language in their learning process and their production. The second major textual problem in terms of coherence is overuse of indirect opening and indirect statements in all sections of their abstracts, which results in incoherent message, a poor flow of information, and therefore ineffective communication. To sum up, the findings suggest that Chinese EFL writers were not linguistically and culturally sensitive to this genre-based abstract discourse. Not following the restrictions of the specific genre-based text to achieve abstract cohesion and coherence, therefore, needs to be looked at interculturally. Hoey (2000) suggests that cohesive ties are not by themselves critical for coherence, and that cohesion is objective, while coherence is subjective for it may vary from reader to reader. Husan (1984) suggests that coherence is only measurable in terms of readers assessment. Chinese EFL writers choose to develop indirect statements in most parts of their abstracts with a continual progression pattern for coherence, not considering the target readers of different cultures, and their expectation about the cohesive and coherence strategies required for an English abstract. However, their choices for concentration progression patterns weaken the coherence required in English writing including EFL abstract writing, and thus slow down the information flow. Discussion Five major cohesive and coherence problems shown in the Chinese EFL abstracts of engineering discourse are found to be the big interferences in the written communication for the academic exchange. The main reasons for the miscommunications are attributed to four major factors: linguistic, pragmatic, cognitive, and cultural factors. For linguistic reasons regarding cohesion deficiency and improper coherence, we need to examine one of the linguistic differences believed by many scholars as Chinese topic-prominent and English subject-prominent language (Chomsky, 1965; Jesperson, 1992). In a topic prominent language, a writer emphasizes the topic of the sentence and organizes its syntax by placing the grammatical unit of adverbial as basic sentence structure at the beginning, but with the main clause (subject and predicate) going behind (Shen, 1988; Zhao, 1968). According to Zhao (1968) and Shen (1988), this topic-prominent structure is found to be employed by many Chinese EFL writers, accounting for nearly 50% of the total structures used. Affected by the topic-prominent nature of the Chinese language, the Chinese EFL advanced learners are accustomed to this feature and are therefore fossilized when they write in the target language by repetitively transferring the topic-prominent structure and placing the adverbial phrases or 181

7 clauses at the very beginning of a sentence. What we should notice is that this linguistic feature is, in fact, an indication of structural cohesion in the concentration progression pattern examined in the present study. This occurs in many discourses, even in Chinese EFL genre-based English abstracts with sentences starting with, In order to, In this paper, With the development of, According to, Because of, Based on, When, and so on. The present study suggests that this topic-prominent structure is much preferred by the Chinese EFL group, who tended to place the topic rather than the subject at the beginning by using the concentration progression pattern, which is used as a cohesive strategy to link the sentences to continue the text. However, this strategy could result in the frequent shift of the topic rather than explicit logical connection of the ideas in a linear way. The reason why they prefer and repeat this linguistic trait in Chinese EFL writing process, including that of the abstracts, is that the writers are born to use the language structure and grow with it. In fact, this typically preferred topic-prominent structure found in most Chinese EFL writings might stem, to a great extent, from the Chinese culture, a culture of indirectness, to be detailed later. Another big linguistic difference concerning cohesion is the diverse understanding of repetition both in form and in function. Linguistically, English and Chinese are two different languages in terms of repetition. English is a language of form demanding many different forms for one single idea in a given passage, thus repetition both of the form and meaning is not allowed in English language, except for rhetorical emphasis and for power (Fowler & Ramsey, 1992; Graves, 1979). Chinese is a language of meaning with fewer forms with repetition used for emphasis and power as well as a linguistic form, strategy, or pattern for cohesion and coherence, preferred by most Chinese, including Chinese EFL writers in their writing process, sometimes unconsciously. Therefore, repetition for cohesion and coherence is widely accepted in a Chinese context for more purposes than simply emphasis or power. Hinkle (2001) pointed out that Chinese students tend to resort to rhetorical devices like repetition to reveal the tension of the writer. The commonly used repetitive strategy in many of Chinese CET (College English Text) essays we found was not for power and emphasis, but for cohesion. For instance, the topic sentence follows normally by it can, it can, it can or by for, for, for, and so on. Also, we find that Chinese EFL writers repeat the subject or the object of the sentences again and again, like Spacecraft ; it ; The spacecraft ; The problem, the problem ; It. However, we could seldom find this repetition as the cohesive strategy in an English mini-essay (Lian, 1993), thus the spacecraft can be replaced by native English speakers with synonyms such as the space-shuttle, spaceship, the spacecraft, the shuttle, the ship, and the craft. So we can also find the replacement in an EML abstract for the term polymers by the new polymers, resulting polymers, and these materials, but not at all in the Chinese EFL abstracts. The second reason concerning cohesion and coherence deficiency is the unawareness of pragmatic difference. Pragmatically, Chinese EFL technical genre-based writers have been attempting to translate the idea prepared in their mind rather than creating the abstract in their production, for the text translated in English is presented totally in Chinese ways: concentration progression pattern and topic-prominent structure for both cohesion and coherence, simple lexical repetition for cohesion, empty and indirect background for coherence, and over generalization of overt links. Also, Chinese writers, including Chinese 182

8 EFL respondents, are seldom trained to consider textual cohesion and coherence as important parts of a writing task, and therefore are not familiar with these ideas and their implications. However, the EML researchers are quite informed of these concepts which are considered as the most important textual qualities and are offered in most of the writing books for high school students and undergraduates, and in some of the most important theoretical works by Brown and Yule (1983), De Beaugrande and Dressler (1996), Halliday and Hassan (2001), many others. We can believe rationally that English native speakers are well-trained in textual cohesion and coherence, and also would not transfer those five items mentioned above in the production process. Previous research indicates that SLA and linguistic relativity have some common concerns especially in regard to conceptual transfer study of pragmatic transfer in reading and writing (including textual and syntactic transfer), and this transfer could lead to a misunderstanding as they are unacceptable by target audiences with different expectations. In fact, topic-prominent structure and subject-prominent structure are just two different pragmatic rules for textual cohesion and coherence, and the latter is encouraged in the English context for easy reading and effective communication. Also, partial repetition, simple paraphrase, and complex paraphrase, which are commonly found in English writing for lexical repetition, are restraints for good writing production and thus are much pragmatically employed (Pinkham, 2000), whereas Chinese EFL learners and the instructors failed pragmatically to guide the learners with knowledge of different lexical repetitions, and various lexical repetition strategies are absent in both most of text books and teaching plans, even though they account for approximately 40% of cohesion in many discourses (Hoey, 2000) in both reading and writing passages. Another pragmatic deficiency of cohesion in abstract presentation is the improper use of overt conjunctions to connect ideas, which is the result of the Chinese EFL overgeneralization of rhetorical strategies for cohesion to be employed in English language. Language teachers assume that English is a language of form and conjunctions, especially of sequences, a view encouraged by more of the Chinese EFL language instructors. This overgeneralization can also account for pragmatic errors concerning cohesive and coherence deficiency in terms of overt links and over use of the links used in genre-based Chinese EFL abstracts. Although the above two reasons could account for many of the problems, the cognitive factor is the most important reason when related to the socio-interactive approach, for it shows that writing is an enmeshed network of concept, socially-situated events and behavior (Swales, 2001). As English writing is process-oriented, writers are audience-oriented and tend to be in a dynamic state of social interaction, a writer has a set of cognitive schema or a network of text principles of audience, unity, cohesion, and coherence demanded for text quality. However, Chinese writing tends to be product-oriented and writer-oriented with few ideas of audience and their expectations. One can easily find that the Chinese writer tends to produce incomprehensible copy due to less consideration of clear social context and audiences, having no knowledge of comparable differences in syntax and text, and therefore has a poor understanding of their expectations of required forms. All of these have a distinct influence on the target language either in reading or writing and on their choices of cohesive and coherence strategies due to the mother culture and language. Repetition as another cohesive strategy that Chinese EFL writers preferred in their abstracts is a good illustration of 183

9 the great impact of different language and culture on the target language writing process. Another cognitive factor is socio-cognitive influence of the L1 in the production of abstracts in the target language, which is regarded as the binding power even though the power of L1 influence is far from absolute (Cook, 1988). The binding in terms of contact settings, cognitive capacities to notice and to categorize is more associated with the cognitive inhibition of the mother language. Cook views the EFL learning as the attainment of a new perspective but not as an escape from the conceptual world, and therefore binding power, of the native language. The Chinese EFL transfer of the cohesive and coherence strategies and overgeneralization of the rules of the target language might be the reasons for neglecting the linguistic and cultural traits in the target language. This transfer, however, can also be attributed to the root reason of the binding power from the L1 language to notice, to categorize, and to choose to use. Up to the present, some Chinese EFL student writers still unconsciously choose the topic-prominent structure or concentration progression pattern for cohesion and coherence. We can say that it is because Chinese EFL writers are shaped cognitively in terms of syntax and text, as they grow up with their syntactical structure and cohesion and coherence strategies; therefore they produce the same structure and employ the same strategies in the target language or L2 mainly because of the binding power of L1. Also, their choices of repetitive strategies due to the binding power and shaping influence of L1 on the L2 are accepted in the context of L1 but rejected in the context of L2. The power and influence of L1 binding can trigger language and conceptual transfer and later the fossilization of the habitual thoughts and acts. The incorrect production of abstract cohesion and coherence for engineering discourse in L2 is actually the result of the L1 s binding and influence. This shaping influence and power displaced in either native language or cross-cultural communication (Scollon & Scollon, 2000a) is the manifestation of socio-cognitive influence which indicates that even highly-proficient Chinese EFL writers may never free themselves entirely from the binding power of the L1 and its shaping influence. The last factor concerning the textual problems is the fact that Chinese culture is collectivistic, looking highly on others and mutual face concern; therefore, indirectness, implicitness, low illocutionary clarity, and loose logic are accepted and even encouraged in Chinese culture but not in Western culture (Jia, 1997). Much research has verified these cultural features, and the choice of an indirect way to achieve cohesion and build coherence is a good manifestation of this cultural difference presented in the current study. However, the way L1 Chinese writers arrange sentences in L2 English to build coherence is confusing for readers of native English, unfulfilling their expectations and causing misunderstanding and miscommunication, as native English bears the culture of directness, linear development, high illocutionary, clarity, and tight logic judgment, which is very different from Chinese culture. Most of the indirect background information concerning coherence problems made by Chinese respondents listed in Table 5 accounts for approximately 32%, and the indirect statements presented in each section shown in Table 6 accounts for up to 69% of concentration progression patterns. In fact, background information sections containing indirect and empty openings are therefore regarded as incoherent presentation, and this indirect and loosely-related opening can slow down or even cut off effective communication, and therefore are regarded as less logical and less informative. However, these strategies are 184

10 believed to be the safe way in Chinese contexts both for the speaker and for the listener, for it is less imposing. This can be well illustrated by Oliver s (1994, as cited in Bublitz, Lenk, & Ventola, 1999) observation that one primary function of Chinese discourse is to promote harmony. This indirect, empty, and implicit, less-closely related background information with loose logic presented in English language is intolerable. As coherence is very subjective (Hoey, 2000), the concept is believed to be culturally determined, and there will be an implicit and explicit presentation of textual property, especially of the coherence. Connor (1997) and Scollon and Scollon (2000b), two important researchers, suggest that there is close interaction between language and culture, and the linguistic differences derived from this cultural diversity and the knowledge of the differences will be crucial for effective communication cross-culturally. Conclusions This paper studies cohesive and coherence errors commonly located in Chinese EFL abstracts with contrastive analysis of textual differences, using comparative analysis and textual analysis approaches, Halliday and Husan s cohesion theory (2001), Hoey s lexical cohesion theory (2000), and Zhu and Yan s thematic theory (2001) as the framework. The objective of this research is to arouse the attention of the researchers to the textual problems of Chinese EFL genre-based abstracts from a social cognitive perspective. Another objective is to promote EFL teaching for both the researchers and the learners in terms of the abstract writing process and production through the exploration of general existing problems related to textual cohesion and coherence. The results show that there are great differences concerning the structural cohesion, nonstructural cohesion, lexical cohesion, and coherence between the Chinese and English languages, and that four major differences stemming from language, pragmatics, cognition, and culture destroy textual property, ruin the expectation of the readers, and reduce effective communication. What is worth noticing is that coherence, however, is not built just by cohesion like conjunctions. As cohesion and coherence are hard topics in terms of their relationship for many discourses, coherence is a facet of the reader s evaluation of a text; in other words, coherence is more subjective. Thus, we believe that coherence is culturally determined as well, and that whatever relationship exists between cohesion and coherence, cohesive ties are not by themselves critical in building coherence. Genre-based abstract discourse, in terms of cohesion together with coherence, should be directed to effective communication from a social-interactive perspective in research and teaching, and should take into its consideration the audiences, their expectations, information flow, and the cultural differences between the writers and the readers. We hope that this research can help Chinese EFL learners to improve the textual quality of cohesion and coherence required for abstract discourse for an explicit and effective presentation of their research work, as those textual properties are the key factors in successful academic performance, and that this work could shine a light on the pedagogic implications in terms of genre-based textual cohesion and coherence in EFL context. 185

11 References Brown, J., & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse analysis. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Bublitz, W., Lenk, U., & Ventola, E. (1999). Coherence in spoken and written discourse. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing. Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of theory of syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Connor, U. (1997). Contrastive rhetoric: Cross-cultural aspects of second language writing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Cook, G. (1988). Stylistics with a dash of advertising. Language and style, 7, De Beaugrande, R., & Dressler, W. U. (1996). Introduction to text linguistics. New York: Longman. Fowler, R. & Ramsey, H. (1992). The little brown handbook (5th ed.). New York: Harper Collins. Graves, R. (1979). A handbook for writers of English prose (2nd ed.). New York: Vantage Books. Halliday, M. A. K., & Husan, R. (2001). Cohesion in English. Bejing, China: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Hinkle, E. (2001). Culture in research and second language pedagogy: Culture and language. In E. Hinkle (Ed.), Culture in second language teaching and learning (p. 1-7). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Hoey, M. (2000). Patterns of lexis in text. Shanghai, China: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Publishers. Husan, R. (1984). Coherence and cohesive harmony. In J. Flood (Ed.), Understanding reading comprehension (pp ). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Jesperson, O. (1992). Language, its nature, development and origin. London: George Allen & Unwin. Jia, Y. (1997). Intercultural communication. Shanghai, China: Foreign Language Education Publishing House. Lian, S. (1993). Contrastive studies of English and Chinese. Bejing, China: Higher Education Publisher. Pinkham, J. (2000). The translators guide to clingfish. Bejing, China: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Scollon, R., & Scollon, S. W. (2000a). Contrastive discourse in Chinese and English. Shanghai, China: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Scollon, R., & Scollon, S. W. (2000b). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Shanghai, China: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. Selinker, L. (1994). Second language acquisition: Introduction course. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Shen, X. (1988). Chinese syntactical difference. Changchun, China: Northeast Normal School Publishing House. Swales, J. M. (2001). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Shanghai, China: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Publication House. 186

12 Zhao, Y. (1968). Textual analysis. Changsha, China: Hunan Education Publishing House. Zhu, Y., & Yan, S. (2001). Reflection of systematic functional languages. Shanghai, China: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Publishing House. Zhu, Y., Zheng, L., & Miao, X. (2001). Contrastive study of lexical cohesion. Shanghai, China: Foreign Language Education Publishers. 187

Discourse Markers in English Writing

Discourse Markers in English Writing Discourse Markers in English Writing Li FENG Abstract Many devices, such as reference, substitution, ellipsis, and discourse marker, contribute to a discourse s cohesion and coherence. This paper focuses

More information

psychology and its role in comprehension of the text has been explored and employed

psychology and its role in comprehension of the text has been explored and employed 2 The role of background knowledge in language comprehension has been formalized as schema theory, any text, either spoken or written, does not by itself carry meaning. Rather, according to schema theory,

More information

English academic writing difficulties of engineering students at the tertiary level in China

English academic writing difficulties of engineering students at the tertiary level in China World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education Vol.13, No.3, 2015 2015 WIETE English academic writing difficulties of engineering students at the tertiary level in China Gengsheng Xiao & Xin

More information

Difficulties that Arab Students Face in Learning English and the Importance of the Writing Skill Acquisition Key Words:

Difficulties that Arab Students Face in Learning English and the Importance of the Writing Skill Acquisition Key Words: Difficulties that Arab Students Face in Learning English and the Importance of the Writing Skill Acquisition Key Words: Lexical field academic proficiency syntactic repertoire context lexical categories

More information

DIFFICULTIES AND SOME PROBLEMS IN TRANSLATING LEGAL DOCUMENTS

DIFFICULTIES AND SOME PROBLEMS IN TRANSLATING LEGAL DOCUMENTS DIFFICULTIES AND SOME PROBLEMS IN TRANSLATING LEGAL DOCUMENTS Ivanka Sakareva Translation of legal documents bears its own inherent difficulties. First we should note that this type of translation is burdened

More information

INVESTIGATING DISCOURSE MARKERS IN PEDAGOGICAL SETTINGS:

INVESTIGATING DISCOURSE MARKERS IN PEDAGOGICAL SETTINGS: ARECLS, 2011, Vol.8, 95-108. INVESTIGATING DISCOURSE MARKERS IN PEDAGOGICAL SETTINGS: A LITERATURE REVIEW SHANRU YANG Abstract This article discusses previous studies on discourse markers and raises research

More information

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, HAYWARD DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Assessment of Master s Programs in English

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, HAYWARD DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Assessment of Master s Programs in English CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, HAYWARD DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH Assessment of Master s Programs in English [Note: Program descriptions are given at the end of this document.] Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs):

More information

French Language and Culture. Curriculum Framework 2011 2012

French Language and Culture. Curriculum Framework 2011 2012 AP French Language and Culture Curriculum Framework 2011 2012 Contents (click on a topic to jump to that page) Introduction... 3 Structure of the Curriculum Framework...4 Learning Objectives and Achievement

More information

Alignment of the National Standards for Learning Languages with the Common Core State Standards

Alignment of the National Standards for Learning Languages with the Common Core State Standards Alignment of the National with the Common Core State Standards Performance Expectations The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (ELA) and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science,

More information

WRITING A CRITICAL ARTICLE REVIEW

WRITING A CRITICAL ARTICLE REVIEW WRITING A CRITICAL ARTICLE REVIEW A critical article review briefly describes the content of an article and, more importantly, provides an in-depth analysis and evaluation of its ideas and purpose. The

More information

An Overview of Applied Linguistics

An Overview of Applied Linguistics An Overview of Applied Linguistics Edited by: Norbert Schmitt Abeer Alharbi What is Linguistics? It is a scientific study of a language It s goal is To describe the varieties of languages and explain the

More information

TEXT LINGUISTICS: RELEVANT LINGUISTICS? WAM Carstens School of Languages and Arts, Potchefstroom University for CHE

TEXT LINGUISTICS: RELEVANT LINGUISTICS? WAM Carstens School of Languages and Arts, Potchefstroom University for CHE TEXT LINGUISTICS: RELEVANT LINGUISTICS? WAM Carstens School of Languages and Arts, Potchefstroom University for CHE 1. INTRODUCTION The title of this paper gives a good indication of what I aim to do:

More information

KSE Comp. support for the writing process 2 1

KSE Comp. support for the writing process 2 1 KSE Comp. support for the writing process 2 1 Flower & Hayes cognitive model of writing A reaction against stage models of the writing process E.g.: Prewriting - Writing - Rewriting They model the growth

More information

How to Cultivate Intercultural Communication Competence of Non-English Major Students

How to Cultivate Intercultural Communication Competence of Non-English Major Students ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 3, No. 12, pp. 2245-2249, December 2013 Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.3.12.2245-2249 How to Cultivate Intercultural Communication

More information

Course Description (MA Degree)

Course Description (MA Degree) Course Description (MA Degree) Eng. 508 Semantics (3 Credit hrs.) This course is an introduction to the issues of meaning and logical interpretation in natural language. The first part of the course concentrates

More information

ELPS TELPAS. Proficiency Level Descriptors

ELPS TELPAS. Proficiency Level Descriptors ELPS TELPAS Proficiency Level Descriptors Permission to copy the ELPS TELPAS Proficiency Level Descriptors is hereby extended to Texas school officials and their agents for their exclusive use in determining

More information

REVIEW OF HANDBOOK OF AUTOMATED ESSAY EVALUATION: CURRENT APPLICATIONS AND NEW DIRECTIONS

REVIEW OF HANDBOOK OF AUTOMATED ESSAY EVALUATION: CURRENT APPLICATIONS AND NEW DIRECTIONS Language Learning & Technology http://llt.msu.edu/issues/june2014/review2.pdf June 2014, Volume 18, Number 2 pp. 65 69 REVIEW OF HANDBOOK OF AUTOMATED ESSAY EVALUATION: CURRENT APPLICATIONS AND NEW DIRECTIONS

More information

1. Define and Know (D) 2. Recognize (R) 3. Apply automatically (A) Objectives What Students Need to Know. Standards (ACT Scoring Range) Resources

1. Define and Know (D) 2. Recognize (R) 3. Apply automatically (A) Objectives What Students Need to Know. Standards (ACT Scoring Range) Resources T 1. Define and Know (D) 2. Recognize (R) 3. Apply automatically (A) ACT English Grade 10 Rhetorical Skills Organization (15%) Make decisions about order, coherence, and unity Logical connections between

More information

Purposes and Processes of Reading Comprehension

Purposes and Processes of Reading Comprehension 2 PIRLS Reading Purposes and Processes of Reading Comprehension PIRLS examines the processes of comprehension and the purposes for reading, however, they do not function in isolation from each other or

More information

PTE Academic. Score Guide. November 2012. Version 4

PTE Academic. Score Guide. November 2012. Version 4 PTE Academic Score Guide November 2012 Version 4 PTE Academic Score Guide Copyright Pearson Education Ltd 2012. All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior written

More information

Predictability of Vocabulary Size on Learners EFL Proficiency: Taking VST, CET4 and CET6 as Instruments

Predictability of Vocabulary Size on Learners EFL Proficiency: Taking VST, CET4 and CET6 as Instruments Studies in Literature and Language Vol. 10, No. 3, 2015, pp. 18-23 DOI:10.3968/6679 ISSN 1923-1555[Print] ISSN 1923-1563[Online] www.cscanada.net www.cscanada.org Predictability of Vocabulary Size on Learners

More information

Study Plan for Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

Study Plan for Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics Study Plan for Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics is awarded by the Faculty of Graduate Studies at Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) upon the fulfillment

More information

Units of Study 9th Grade

Units of Study 9th Grade Units of Study 9th Grade First Semester Theme: The Journey Second Semester Theme: Choices The Big Ideas in English Language Arts that drive instruction: Independent thinkers construct meaning through language.

More information

3. Principles for teaching reading

3. Principles for teaching reading 3. Principles for teaching reading 1. Exploit the reader s background knowledge. A reader s background knowledge can influence reading comprehension (Carrell, 1983, Carrell and Connor, 1991). Background

More information

Genre-Based Approach to Teaching Writing Miyoun (Sophia) Kim

Genre-Based Approach to Teaching Writing Miyoun (Sophia) Kim 33 Genre-Based Approach to Teaching Writing Miyoun (Sophia) Kim Abstract This paper was written as a result of concerns about how to improve the writing skills of Korean students. The main goal of the

More information

The Facilitating Role of L1 in ESL Classes

The Facilitating Role of L1 in ESL Classes The Facilitating Role of L1 in ESL Classes Çağrı Tuğrul Mart Ishik University, Erbil, Iraq Email: tugrulbey@hotmail.com Abstract It has been widely advocated that insistence on English-only policy and

More information

Editorial. Metacognition and Reading Comprehension

Editorial. Metacognition and Reading Comprehension Metacognition and Reading Comprehension Alireza Karbalaei* Department of English Language, Islamic Azad University, Safashahr Branch, Safashahr, Irán 1. Introduction The importance of learning to read

More information

AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION 2015 SCORING GUIDELINES

AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION 2015 SCORING GUIDELINES AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION 2015 SCORING GUIDELINES Question 3 The essay s score should reflect the essay s quality as a whole. Remember that students had only 40 minutes to read and write; the

More information

1. Learner language studies

1. Learner language studies 1. Learner language studies The establishment of learner language research as a particular area of linguistic investigation can be traced to the late 1940s and early 1950s, when CA and EA started to compare

More information

Developing an Academic Essay

Developing an Academic Essay 2 9 In Chapter 1: Writing an academic essay, you were introduced to the concepts of essay prompt, thesis statement and outline. In this chapter, using these concepts and looking at examples, you will obtain

More information

Running head: MODALS IN ENGLISH LEARNERS WRITING 1. Epistemic and Root Modals in Chinese Students English Argumentative Writings.

Running head: MODALS IN ENGLISH LEARNERS WRITING 1. Epistemic and Root Modals in Chinese Students English Argumentative Writings. Running head: MODALS IN ENGLISH LEARNERS WRITING 1 Epistemic and Root Modals in Chinese Students English Argumentative Writings Meixiu Zhang Northern Arizona University MODALS IN ENGLISH LEARNERS WRITING

More information

Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners (Linse, 2005, pp. 120-134)

Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners (Linse, 2005, pp. 120-134) Teaching Vocabulary to Young Learners (Linse, 2005, pp. 120-134) Very young children learn vocabulary items related to the different concepts they are learning. When children learn numbers or colors in

More information

Reading in a Foreign Language April 2009, Volume 21, No. 1 ISSN 1539-0578 pp. 88 92

Reading in a Foreign Language April 2009, Volume 21, No. 1 ISSN 1539-0578 pp. 88 92 Reading in a Foreign Language April 2009, Volume 21, No. 1 ISSN 1539-0578 pp. 88 92 Reviewed work: Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: A Reflective Guide. (2009). Thomas S. C. Farrell. Thousand

More information

LITERACY: READING LANGUAGE ARTS

LITERACY: READING LANGUAGE ARTS IMPORTANT NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: The assessment information in this document is aligned with NBPTS Literacy: Reading Language Arts Standards, Second Edition (for teachers of students ages 3 12). If you

More information

Handbook on Test Development: Helpful Tips for Creating Reliable and Valid Classroom Tests. Allan S. Cohen. and. James A. Wollack

Handbook on Test Development: Helpful Tips for Creating Reliable and Valid Classroom Tests. Allan S. Cohen. and. James A. Wollack Handbook on Test Development: Helpful Tips for Creating Reliable and Valid Classroom Tests Allan S. Cohen and James A. Wollack Testing & Evaluation Services University of Wisconsin-Madison 1. Terminology

More information

FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AN INTERVIEW WITH NINA SPADA

FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AN INTERVIEW WITH NINA SPADA SPADA, Nina. Foreign Language Teaching: an interview with Nina Spada. ReVEL, vol. 2, n. 2, 2004. ISSN 1678-8931 [www.revel.inf.br/eng]. FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AN INTERVIEW WITH NINA SPADA Nina Spada

More information

Montgomery County Public Schools English 9B Exam Review

Montgomery County Public Schools English 9B Exam Review Montgomery County Public Schools English 9B Exam Review June 2013 FORMAT Five Readings an excerpt from a Shakespeare play (not Romeo and Juliet) two poems a narrative a nonfiction article related to the

More information

GRADE 11 English Language Arts Standards Pacing Guide. 1 st Nine Weeks

GRADE 11 English Language Arts Standards Pacing Guide. 1 st Nine Weeks 1 st Nine Weeks A. Verify meanings of words by the author s use of definition, restatement, example, comparison, contrast and cause and effect. B. Distinguish the relationship of word meanings between

More information

Keywords academic writing phraseology dissertations online support international students

Keywords academic writing phraseology dissertations online support international students Phrasebank: a University-wide Online Writing Resource John Morley, Director of Academic Support Programmes, School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures, The University of Manchester Summary A salient

More information

Course Syllabus My TOEFL ibt Preparation Course Online sessions: M, W, F 15:00-16:30 PST

Course Syllabus My TOEFL ibt Preparation Course Online sessions: M, W, F 15:00-16:30 PST Course Syllabus My TOEFL ibt Preparation Course Online sessions: M, W, F Instructor Contact Information Office Location Virtual Office Hours Course Announcements Email Technical support Anastasiia V. Mixcoatl-Martinez

More information

Thai Language Self Assessment

Thai Language Self Assessment The following are can do statements in four skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Put a in front of each description that applies to your current Thai proficiency (.i.e. what you can do with

More information

How to Paraphrase Reading Materials for Successful EFL Reading Comprehension

How to Paraphrase Reading Materials for Successful EFL Reading Comprehension Kwansei Gakuin University Rep Title Author(s) How to Paraphrase Reading Materials Comprehension Hase, Naoya, 長 谷, 尚 弥 Citation 言 語 と 文 化, 12: 99-110 Issue Date 2009-02-20 URL http://hdl.handle.net/10236/1658

More information

Comparative Analysis on the Armenian and Korean Languages

Comparative Analysis on the Armenian and Korean Languages Comparative Analysis on the Armenian and Korean Languages Syuzanna Mejlumyan Yerevan State Linguistic University Abstract It has been five years since the Korean language has been taught at Yerevan State

More information

Subordinating Ideas Using Phrases It All Started with Sputnik

Subordinating Ideas Using Phrases It All Started with Sputnik NATIONAL MATH + SCIENCE INITIATIVE English Subordinating Ideas Using Phrases It All Started with Sputnik Grade 9-10 OBJECTIVES Students will demonstrate understanding of how different types of phrases

More information

Cambridge IELTS 3. Examination papers from the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate

Cambridge IELTS 3. Examination papers from the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate Cambridge IELTS 3 Examination papers from the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street,

More information

Language Arts Literacy Areas of Focus: Grade 6

Language Arts Literacy Areas of Focus: Grade 6 Language Arts Literacy : Grade 6 Mission: Learning to read, write, speak, listen, and view critically, strategically and creatively enables students to discover personal and shared meaning throughout their

More information

Moving forward to Communicative Proficiency: A Comparison between CET-4 Listening Comprehension Tests and IELTS Listening Subtest

Moving forward to Communicative Proficiency: A Comparison between CET-4 Listening Comprehension Tests and IELTS Listening Subtest ISSN 1798-4769 Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 5, No. 6, pp. 1322-1327, November 2014 Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/jltr.5.6.1322-1327 Moving forward to Communicative Proficiency:

More information

TESOL Standards for P-12 ESOL Teacher Education 2010. 1 = Unacceptable 2 = Acceptable 3 = Target

TESOL Standards for P-12 ESOL Teacher Education 2010. 1 = Unacceptable 2 = Acceptable 3 = Target TESOL Standards for P-12 ESOL Teacher Education 2010 1 = Unacceptable 2 = Acceptable 3 = Target Standard 1. Language: Candidates know, understand, and use the major theories and research related to the

More information

FAQ: Outlining, Drafting, and Editing

FAQ: Outlining, Drafting, and Editing Question 1: What criteria are important for deciding the positioning of topic sentences? Answer 1: Usually, the topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph. By placing the topic sentence in the

More information

Culture and Language. What We Say Influences What We Think, What We Feel and What We Believe

Culture and Language. What We Say Influences What We Think, What We Feel and What We Believe Culture and Language What We Say Influences What We Think, What We Feel and What We Believe Unique Human Ability Ability to create and use language is the most distinctive feature of humans Humans learn

More information

Language Meaning and Use

Language Meaning and Use Language Meaning and Use Raymond Hickey, English Linguistics Website: www.uni-due.de/ele Types of meaning There are four recognisable types of meaning: lexical meaning, grammatical meaning, sentence meaning

More information

MAP for Language & International Communication Spanish Language Learning Outcomes by Level

MAP for Language & International Communication Spanish Language Learning Outcomes by Level Novice Abroad I This course is designed for students with little or no prior knowledge of the language. By the end of the course, the successful student will develop a basic foundation in the five skills:

More information

EFL Learners Synonymous Errors: A Case Study of Glad and Happy

EFL Learners Synonymous Errors: A Case Study of Glad and Happy ISSN 1798-4769 Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 1-7, January 2010 Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/jltr.1.1.1-7 EFL Learners Synonymous Errors: A Case Study of Glad and

More information

College and Career Readiness Instructor Certification Course Catalog

College and Career Readiness Instructor Certification Course Catalog College and Career Readiness Instructor Certification Course Catalog CORE Instructional Certificate The CORE Instructional Certificate: This credential prepares instructors to provide quality adult education

More information

Reading literature to develop advanced writing competencies: A multiliteracies-based approach

Reading literature to develop advanced writing competencies: A multiliteracies-based approach Wayne State University From the SelectedWorks of Kate Paesani 2013 Reading literature to develop advanced writing competencies: A multiliteracies-based approach Kate Paesani, Wayne State University Available

More information

PTE Academic Recommended Resources

PTE Academic Recommended Resources PTE Academic Recommended Resources Language Leader Intermediate Pearson Longman, 2008 April 2012 V2 Pearson Education Ltd 2012. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission

More information

1. Introduction 1.1 Contact

1. Introduction 1.1 Contact English Discourse Analysis: An Introduction Rachel Whittaker (Grp 41) Mick O Donnell, Laura Hidalgo (Grp 46) 1.1 Contact Group 46: Mick O Donnell (7 Feb 23 March) Modulo VI bis 311 michael.odonnell@uam.es

More information

Rubrics for Assessing Student Writing, Listening, and Speaking High School

Rubrics for Assessing Student Writing, Listening, and Speaking High School Rubrics for Assessing Student Writing, Listening, and Speaking High School Copyright by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce the material contained herein

More information

Cohesive writing 1. Conjunction: linking words What is cohesive writing?

Cohesive writing 1. Conjunction: linking words What is cohesive writing? Cohesive writing 1. Conjunction: linking words What is cohesive writing? Cohesive writing is writing which holds together well. It is easy to follow because it uses language effectively to guide the reader.

More information

How do the principles of adult learning apply to English language learners?

How do the principles of adult learning apply to English language learners? Beginning to Work with Adult English Language Learners: Some Considerations MaryAnn Cunningham Florez and Miriam Burt National Center for ESL Literacy Education (NCLE) October 2001 This article discusses

More information

Differences of English and Chinese as Written Languages and Strategies in English Writing Teaching

Differences of English and Chinese as Written Languages and Strategies in English Writing Teaching ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 647-652, April 2013 Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.3.4.647-652 Differences of English and Chinese as Written Languages

More information

The effects of beliefs about language learning and learning strategy use of junior high school EFL learners in remote districts

The effects of beliefs about language learning and learning strategy use of junior high school EFL learners in remote districts The effects of beliefs about language learning and learning strategy use of junior high school EFL learners in remote districts ABSTRACT Ching-yi Chang Leader University, Taiwan Ming-chang Shen Leader

More information

ENGLISH FILE Intermediate

ENGLISH FILE Intermediate Karen Ludlow New ENGLISH FILE Intermediate and the Common European Framework of Reference 2 INTRODUCTION What is this booklet for? The aim of this booklet is to give a clear and simple introduction to

More information

How to Write a Research Proposal

How to Write a Research Proposal http://www.ic.daad.de/accra Information Center Accra How to Write a Research Proposal Please note: The following recommendations are only suggestions. They do not guarantee a successful research application.

More information

Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening June 1, 2009 FINAL Elementary Standards Grades 3-8

Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening June 1, 2009 FINAL Elementary Standards Grades 3-8 Academic Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening June 1, 2009 FINAL Elementary Standards Grades 3-8 Pennsylvania Department of Education These standards are offered as a voluntary resource

More information

PENNSYLVANIA COMMON CORE STANDARDS English Language Arts Grades 9-12

PENNSYLVANIA COMMON CORE STANDARDS English Language Arts Grades 9-12 1.2 Reading Informational Text Students read, understand, and respond to informational text with emphasis on comprehension, making connections among ideas and between texts with focus on textual evidence.

More information

Using of the First Language in English classroom as a way of scaffolding for both the students and teachers to learn and teach English

Using of the First Language in English classroom as a way of scaffolding for both the students and teachers to learn and teach English International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences 2013 Available online at www.irjabs.com ISSN 2251-838X / Vol, 4 (7): 1846-1854 Science Explorer Publications Using of the First Language in

More information

Aligning the World Language Content Standards for California Public Schools with the Common Core Standards. Table of Contents

Aligning the World Language Content Standards for California Public Schools with the Common Core Standards. Table of Contents Aligning the World Language Standards for California Public Schools with the Common Core Standards Table of s Page Introduction to World Language Standards for California Public Schools (WLCS) 2 World

More information

THE IMPACT OF TEXTUAL COHESIVE CONJUNCTIONS ON THE READING COMPREHENSION OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDENTS

THE IMPACT OF TEXTUAL COHESIVE CONJUNCTIONS ON THE READING COMPREHENSION OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDENTS THE IMPACT OF TEXTUAL COHESIVE CONJUNCTIONS ON THE READING COMPREHENSION OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDENTS ABDUSSALAM A. INNAJIH Abstract This study investigated the impact of textual cohesive conjunctions

More information

The. Languages Ladder. Steps to Success. The

The. Languages Ladder. Steps to Success. The The Languages Ladder Steps to Success The What is it? The development of a national recognition scheme for languages the Languages Ladder is one of three overarching aims of the National Languages Strategy.

More information

Common Core State Standards Speaking and Listening

Common Core State Standards Speaking and Listening Comprehension and Collaboration. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly

More information

Guide for Writing an Exegesis On a Biblical Passage

Guide for Writing an Exegesis On a Biblical Passage Guide for Writing an Exegesis On a Biblical Passage A. Initial Approach 1. Context. Locate your pericope both within the immediate context of the basic division of the book and the overall structural units

More information

DEFINING COMPREHENSION

DEFINING COMPREHENSION Chapter Two DEFINING COMPREHENSION We define reading comprehension as the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language. We use

More information

The Role of Motivation in Learning English Language for Pakistani Learners

The Role of Motivation in Learning English Language for Pakistani Learners The Role of Motivation in Learning English Language for Pakistani Learners Abdur Rehman Department of English, University of Lahore, Sargodha Campus Hafiz Ahmad Bilal Department of English, University

More information

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment. Table 1. Common Reference Levels: global scale

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment. Table 1. Common Reference Levels: global scale Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment Table 1. Common Reference Levels: global scale C2 Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise

More information

Organizing an essay the basics 2. Cause and effect essay (shorter version) 3. Compare/contrast essay (shorter version) 4

Organizing an essay the basics 2. Cause and effect essay (shorter version) 3. Compare/contrast essay (shorter version) 4 Organizing an essay the basics 2 Cause and effect essay (shorter version) 3 Compare/contrast essay (shorter version) 4 Exemplification (one version) 5 Argumentation (shorter version) 6-7 Support Go from

More information

A Report on my Foreign Language Learning Experience BA English Language and Communication

A Report on my Foreign Language Learning Experience BA English Language and Communication Focus A Report on my Foreign Language Learning Experience BA English Language and Communication 1 I aim to discuss and evaluate my acquisition of the grammatical systems of foreign languages; focusing

More information

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING READING

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING READING Лю Пэн COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING READING Effective Elementary Reading Program Effective approach must contain the following five components: 1. Phonemic awareness instruction to help children learn

More information

COM207: CREATIVE WRITING: FICTION SYLLABUS LECTURE HOURS/CREDITS: 3/3

COM207: CREATIVE WRITING: FICTION SYLLABUS LECTURE HOURS/CREDITS: 3/3 COM207: CREATIVE WRITING: FICTION SYLLABUS LECTURE HOURS/CREDITS: 3/3 CATALOG DESCRIPTION Prerequisite: ENG101 English Composition I Students study a variety of short fiction for story structure and write

More information

CHALLENGES OF NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS WITH READING AND WRITING IN COMPOSITION 101 CLASSES. Abstract

CHALLENGES OF NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS WITH READING AND WRITING IN COMPOSITION 101 CLASSES. Abstract 1 CHALLENGES OF NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS WITH READING AND WRITING IN COMPOSITION 101 CLASSES Abstract It is a fact that many non-native international students, who want to pursue their education in US universities,

More information

Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Certificate Programs

Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Certificate Programs Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Certificate Programs Our TEFL offerings include one 27-unit professional certificate program and four shorter 12-unit certificates: TEFL Professional Certificate

More information

AP English Literature & Composition 2002 Scoring Guidelines

AP English Literature & Composition 2002 Scoring Guidelines AP English Literature & Composition 2002 Scoring Guidelines The materials included in these files are intended for use by AP teachers for course and exam preparation in the classroom; permission for any

More information

Integrating Reading and Writing for Effective Language Teaching

Integrating Reading and Writing for Effective Language Teaching Integrating Reading and Writing for Effective Language Teaching Ruwaida Abu Rass (Israel) Writing is a difficult skill for native speakers and nonnative speakers alike, because writers must balance multiple

More information

Teaching Framework. Framework components

Teaching Framework. Framework components Teaching Framework Framework components CE/3007b/4Y09 UCLES 2014 Framework components Each category and sub-category of the framework is made up of components. The explanations below set out what is meant

More information

BUSINESS STRATEGY SYLLABUS

BUSINESS STRATEGY SYLLABUS Master of Science in Management BUSINESS STRATEGY SYLLABUS Academic Year 2011-2012 Professor: Yuliya Snihur Email: yuliyaigorivna.snihur@upf.edu Office hours: by appointment COURSE OUTLINE Strategy involves

More information

CALIFORNIA S TEACHING PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS (TPE)

CALIFORNIA S TEACHING PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS (TPE) CALIFORNIA S TEACHING PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS (TPE) The Teaching Performance Expectations describe the set of knowledge, skills, and abilities that California expects of each candidate for a Multiple

More information

Upon completion of the First Year Navigation Competency, students will be able to: Understand the physical and virtual WCSU campus;

Upon completion of the First Year Navigation Competency, students will be able to: Understand the physical and virtual WCSU campus; FIRST YEAR NAVIGATION (FY) COMPETENCY First Year Experience programs take a variety of forms to provide academic and cocurricular support as students begin university life. This competency allows first

More information

Appendix: W. Item: Curriculum Course Guide - New High School Course/Honors Creative Writing Department: Instructional Services

Appendix: W. Item: Curriculum Course Guide - New High School Course/Honors Creative Writing Department: Instructional Services Appendix: W Item: Curriculum Course Guide - New High School Course/Honors Creative Writing Department: Instructional Services Background/Historical Context: Creative Writing has been offered in our school

More information

Lingua Inglese II - A.A. 2014-2015 An Introduction to English in Use: Text, Context and Discourse Prof.ssa Alessandra Molino. Updated syllabus 1

Lingua Inglese II - A.A. 2014-2015 An Introduction to English in Use: Text, Context and Discourse Prof.ssa Alessandra Molino. Updated syllabus 1 Updated syllabus 1 Week 1: Introduction Class 1 (9 February): Introduction to the course, set books and additional study material, rules for the exam, the course s perspectives to the study of English,

More information

9 The Difficulties Of Secondary Students In Written English

9 The Difficulties Of Secondary Students In Written English 9 The Difficulties Of Secondary Students In Written English Abdullah Mohammed Al-Abri Senior English Teacher, Dakhiliya Region 1 INTRODUCTION Writing is frequently accepted as being the last language skill

More information

University of Khartoum. Faculty of Arts. Department of English. MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Courses

University of Khartoum. Faculty of Arts. Department of English. MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Courses University of Khartoum Faculty of Arts Department of English MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) by Courses 3 Table of Contents Contents Introduction... 5 Rationale... 5 Objectives...

More information

Cambridge IELTS 2. Examination papers from the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate

Cambridge IELTS 2. Examination papers from the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate Cambridge IELTS 2 Examination papers from the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street,

More information

Grade 6 English Language Arts Performance Level Descriptors

Grade 6 English Language Arts Performance Level Descriptors Limited Grade 6 English Language Arts Performance Level Descriptors A student performing at the Limited Level demonstrates a minimal command of Ohio s Learning Standards for Grade 6 English Language Arts.

More information

Language Arts Literacy Areas of Focus: Grade 5

Language Arts Literacy Areas of Focus: Grade 5 Language Arts Literacy : Grade 5 Mission: Learning to read, write, speak, listen, and view critically, strategically and creatively enables students to discover personal and shared meaning throughout their

More information

Elements of Writing Instruction I

Elements of Writing Instruction I Elements of Writing Instruction I Purpose of this session: 1. To demystify the goals for any writing program by clearly defining goals for children at all levels. 2. To encourage parents that they can

More information

Section 8 Foreign Languages. Article 1 OVERALL OBJECTIVE

Section 8 Foreign Languages. Article 1 OVERALL OBJECTIVE Section 8 Foreign Languages Article 1 OVERALL OBJECTIVE To develop students communication abilities such as accurately understanding and appropriately conveying information, ideas,, deepening their understanding

More information

Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Summarizing and Paraphrasing CHAPTER 4 Summarizing and Paraphrasing Summarizing and paraphrasing are skills that require students to reprocess information and express it in their own words. These skills enhance student comprehension

More information

How Can Teachers Teach Listening?

How Can Teachers Teach Listening? 3 How Can Teachers Teach Listening? The research findings discussed in the previous chapter have several important implications for teachers. Although many aspects of the traditional listening classroom

More information

The Emotive Component in English-Russian Translation of Specialized Texts

The Emotive Component in English-Russian Translation of Specialized Texts US-China Foreign Language, ISSN 1539-8080 March 2014, Vol. 12, No. 3, 226-231 D DAVID PUBLISHING The Emotive Component in English-Russian Translation of Specialized Texts Natalia Sigareva The Herzen State

More information